Innovative drugs: light revolutionizes modern chemistry
16.10.2025
Modern chemistry must develop effective and sustainable processes, avoiding heavy metals or toxic substances. Light is a valuable resource for chemistry: it is free, inexhaustible, and can trigger reactions that would normally require a lot of energy. However, many organic molecules react in uncontrollable or poorly selective ways.
A study published in "Nature Chemistry" coordinated by Luca Dell'Amico from the University of Padua, aims to use light to construct chiral molecules, three-dimensional structures that exist in two mirror-image versions. This difference is crucial in pharmacology: one enantiomer can have a therapeutic effect, while the other can be inactive or harmful.
"In our laboratories, we have developed new processes based on light to create pharmaceutical molecules," explains Luca Dell'Amico, corresponding author of the study. "We have designed innovative organic catalysts that promote selective chemical reactions in a clean way, without metals or toxic reagents. The combination of light and organocatalysts has allowed us to obtain molecules with potential biological activity quickly and ecologically."
"Thanks to this discovery, we have managed to develop a reaction that uses light and an organic catalyst to build complex three-dimensional molecules in a single step," specifies Vasco Corti, first author of the work and Marie-Curie fellow at the University of Padua. "The reaction produces only one of the two enantiomers, a crucial selectivity for biological effects on the human body."
This methodology, which uses only light and organic catalysts without metals or toxic additives, reduces environmental impact and makes production greener. The project is the result of collaboration between the Universities of Padua, Pavia, Ferrara, and Parma, demonstrating how significant discoveries in sustainable chemistry can be achieved by combining expertise.
